Beauty of Every Kind: a Great Ace Attorney AU

Unbidden

The weather continued to grow warmer over the next few days and the rains held themselves back from the earth. This meant the river was a good level for setting out in a boat, and Sunday afternoon proved the perfect day for precisely that.

And so, Barok found himself rowing a small boat along the river, while Lady Helen sat on the other end. Her dress was a beautiful shade of green and gold, trimmed with lace. A parasol that matched her dress and was adorned with satin ribbons rested upon her shoulder, deflecting the garish eye of the sun. Her long, champagne-coloured gloves shimmered as she moved a lock of her perfect hair away from her face. She fixed Barok with an elegant smile.

In the near-distance, he heard Iris's laugh float up, followed by Klint's jovial voice. Klint was in another boat with Iris, while Lady Baskerville watched from the shore, eating an apple, seated beneath a tree with a book and a blanket.

"And how have you been as of late?" Lady Helen said.

"Quite well. And yourself, my lady?" Barok said.

"Quite well, quite well, indeed," she said. "I have been playing the harp a great deal."

"A wonderful instrument."

"Perhaps we can play together some time. I have been told you sing quite nicely. I too enjoy a spot of singing."

"Yes. That sounds agreeable."

He rowed them along in silence for a moment, the boat travelling slowly across the placid waters. Lady Helen sat so still and so perfectly one could almost think they were seated with a painted canvas, so great was her elegance and beauty.

"Have you had any interesting pursuits this past week? Besides your very important work, that is," Lady Helen said.

"There was a rather personal achievement, I suppose," Barok said.

"Oh, do tell!" Lady Helen said, looking at him with ardent interest.

"In my office I keep a collection of casks of wine."

"From your own wineries, I would imagine?"

"Yes. I have long sought a way to best organise them. It has been a labour of many years, but at last I was presented with an idea for a proper system. I am quite pleased with the result."

"Organising wine is really so intense of an undertaking?"

"For me, it has been."

"While I do enjoy winetasting a great deal, I cannot say I have put much thought into such a thing as organising our wines. We simply receive a new bottle and place it upon our racks."

"...With no care for vintage or flavour or location? Or perhaps you already have a system in place, with open spaces for new bottles?"

Lady Helen laughed lightly. "What a great fuss that would be! We merely put them where there is space, after we have consumed another bottle."

"...You do not care for organisation?"

"I like my clothes to be arranged by colour, I suppose. My jewellery and hair pins and the like are just arrayed based on which I most use. But that is a woman's secret. Keep it close," Lady Helen said with a grin.

"I suppose I am...particular about certain things," Barok said.

"If that is your care, I am not opposed. I simply do not see things so strictly."